The Ties That Bind
by tamyyiia
Summary: Eren is reborn in the modern world to a normal family. Titans no longer roam the earth. They're not in any of the history books and Eren is seemingly the only one that remembers. He thinks he'll never find anyone that understands him but when tragedy befalls him, he finds a friend in a unexpected place. Modern AU. Reincarnation. Rebirth. Eren and Isabel are siblings.
1. Chapter 1

Eren was a curious boy, he'd never given much thought as he why he'd been reborn. He just guessed that it was because his other life had been cut so short. A life full of fighting and death was so different to the easy life he had now.

He was born into a normal family. Even though his mother and father from his first life were not his parents this time around. When he was old enough to realise this it was a very strange predicament. Eren felt a little lonely, he felt as if he had been mistreated by fate. To be reborn only to have nobody from his previous one to share it with. It really was cruel.

Eren kept the memories to himself. He never breathed a word of them to anyone. Nobody remembered the Titans. If he went around spouting nonsense about giants that ate people, he was pretty sure he'd be locked away in the looney bin somewhere.

His parents were good people. His mother was a teacher and his father owned a little café. He also had an older sister this time around. They got along as well as any siblings could, they fought about silly things like who got to control the tv remote and who ate the last pudding. She was older than him by only a year so they had gone through school together but they never had any mutual friends.

Eren and his sister never really spoke to each other, they lived in the same house, had all their meals together but that's all really. They weren't friends. She wasn't Mikasa.

The car was quiet except for the sound of the engine trudging along. Eren sat in the back with his sister, looking out the window with a blank expression on his face. The sister sat besides him with her earphones in as their parents chatted in the front.

"Where are we going?" Eren's sister asked.

"You'll see when we get there" Eren's mum replied.

Eren's older sister rolled her green eyes and sighed, putting her earphones back in. She went back to ignoring everyone. Eren smirked a little as he stared at the road ahead.

He and his sister were quite alike, not in just looks but in personality as well. She had the same tanned skin and green eyes, her hair was as unruly as his but hers had a red tint to it. They were both stubborn and loud (which meant that their arguments could be heard through walls), they both got excited by food and they loved camping.

The sudden squeal of tire on tarmac brought Eren out of his daydream. His eyes widened in fright as he saw the truck heading towards them at some speed. He hardly at a chance to react.

"Watch out!" He shouted as his mother gave a scream.

His father's grip on the wheel became almost bruising as he tried to turn the wheel and get out of the way of the oncoming truck.

But it was too late.

The truck was moving too fast and they had no chance of getting out of its collision course. The world seemed to freeze around Eren. Was this it? Was he really going to die again? At such a young age, without getting to live again? Without getting to meet anyone?

His sister screamed beside him.

Eren's body moved on instinct, he threw his body arms over his sister and brought her to him, cradling her head as the truck hit the car. The sound of metal scrapping against metal was loud in his ears as the truck collided with the driver's side of the car. His father died on impact, his bones crushing on on themselves as the driver's side door was breached by the van.

Eren closed his eyes tight, the sound of his mother screaming as the car was flipped and the sudden cut off of her voice as her face smashed against the console was the last thing Eren heard before he blacked out. Still clutching his sister.

The car rolled twice before it finally came to a stop. All the windows had smashed, bits of glass were strewn across the floor, the dark red of blood was vivid against the white leather of the car seats.

"E-eren? Mum?" Came a quiet voice from the wreckage. She felt Eren's breath against her neck. Knowing he was alive, her vision faded to black.

…..

When Eren awoke it was three days later in a hospital bed. His eyes slowly opened, the glare of the florescent light was harsh on his eyes. He couldn't remember what had happened at first.

Had he fallen off his horse again? Had a titan taken a swing at him? _No, I'm not there anymore._ He looked around his little hospital room, the walls were white and there wasn't anything special about it. Am armchair was position quite close to his bed. Nobody was sitting in it.

The hospital equipment beeped obnoxiously beside him. Eren looked down, he felt a dull throb from his left arm. Eren was surprised to see that there was a cast around it. He must have broken it in the accident.

Eren blinked to try and clear his mind. What had happened? He remembered his sister screaming and the sound of crunching….crunching….

Eren jerked to the side. His right hand over his mouth as he mouth as he tried now to puke.

The sound of crunching bones.

He remembered everything. The truck hitting them, cradling his sister in his arms and the sounds of his parents dying.

Tears streamed down his face.

How could this be happening again? How could he lose his family all over again?

The door to the room slowly creaked open, his sister walked in. she was carrying a bottle of water and a sandwich. She didn't have a scratch on her.

Her green eyes lit up in surprise as she noticed Eren sitting up in bed.

"Eren…"She cried, tears running down her face as she ran to her brother's side. "You're awake, you're okay" she sniffed. "they're dead. They're both dead. We're all alone."

Eren stroked his sister's hair with his right hand. "Shhh, shhh. It'll be alright. We'll be okay."

"How?"

"We have each other." He said. "We'll be okay, Isabel"

That was the day that Eren's life was turned upside down. His loving normal parents dead, he was an orphan once again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin**

 **Chapter 2: Never Alone**

It had been a year since Eren and Isabel's parents had died. The funeral had been and gone. There had been lots of people that had attended the funeral. Colleagues of his mum, passed students and friends. A couple of his dads friends from college came as well as a few of his regular customers from the café.

The only family member that turned up to the funeral was Eren's uncle on his mother's side. Other than that…there was no one.

Their uncle had offered them a place to stay but Isabel told him that it wouldn't be necessary. Isabel was 18 and would soon be going to university. Eren had just turned 17 but he knew how to look after himself. Their parents had left them with a good amount of money. They'd be able to live off it for a few years before they found their feet.

Originally Isabel had decided to go a university on the other side of the country but had changed her plans to look after Eren.

They lived in the apartment above the café, which Isabel and Eren worked at in their spare time.

They moved out of the house that they had grown up in and rented it out to a small family. Eren had lost his home once again. He'd didn't even have anyone to blame. The truck driver wasn't really at fault. He'd had a heart attack at the wheel and lost control of the vehicle. Dying at the wheel.

"Eren. Get out of bed. You need to open up the café." Isabel's voice came through Eren's bedroom door.

"Yeah." He replied. He slowly got out of bed and walked out of his room in just his boxers.

"Let me brush my teeth before you go for a shower" Isabel said. Her hair was a mess, tied back in two bunches.

"And brush your hair?" Eren joked. "It's a bit of a mess."

"Shut up you little brat, have you seen yours?" Isabel stuck out her tongue and ran to the bathroom locking the door.

Eren signed and waited on the other side. They'd gotten closer since the accident. Isabel made breakfast and Eren made Dinner. They watched films together quietly and they hardly ever argued.

All they had was each other, they had to rely on each other.

Isabel came out the bathroom. Her hair was tidier but still unruly. "Better?"

"Sure," Eren smiled "What's for breakfast?"

"Eggs and bacon. I've got some black tea too. I went to a little shop just outside of town and found one that we haven't tried yet." Isabel grinned.

For a reason unbeknownst to him, Isabel was obsessed with tea. She bought a different blend every time she was out but however nice it was, Isabel was never happy with it.

"Cool."

Eren went for his shower. He was convinced that showering was the best thing in the world, that and meat.

Eren missed his friends from the survey corps, he missed Mikasa and Armin. God, he even missed Jean's stupid horse face.

Eren lathered his hair with shampoo and scrubbed at his head, the hot water hitting his back and trickling down the rest of his body. He turned around and quickly washed the rest of his body before he let the water pour over his head.

While Eren was showering Isabel laid the table. The plated up the eggs and bacon and set them down. The tea was brewing in a little teapot on their small circular table that could fit four at a push.

"Eren. Its ready!" she called just as Eren walked around the corner. Hair still wet but dressed in a pair of black jeans and a brown long sleeved top. " I swear you have some sort of food radar!" She remarked as she sat down at the table.

Eren joined her, "It looks great!" He said, picking up his fork and stabbing a piece of bacon.

Isabel picked up the pot of tea and started to pour it into two little tea cups that she'd bought at a charity shop. They were both plain white and quite dainty.

Eren picked up his cup. The tea inside was black as night and smelled musky and sort of familiar. Eren raised the cup to his lips and took a sip. The hot liquid hit his tongue. It was musky and strong and….

Isabel gasped, "This is it. This is the one." She took another sip.

Eren recognised the taste immediately. This was the same tea that he drank in the survey corps. The one that Levi, that the Corporal let him have on special occasions. Eren stared at his sister with wide eyes. She had a distant look on her face, the cup just under her nose. She looked like she was trapped in a memory.

"What do you mean?" Eren asked. His voice hopeful.

Isabel looked up, her eyes wide. She'd forgotten where she was. For a moment she was back in underground city, drinking tea with her friends. "it's just really good, right?" She smiled.

Eren frowned, He bit his lip and looked down at his cup. For a moment he had thought..no…he was being stupid. By now he would have noticed something. Right?

In that moment Eren decided to do something. He raised his hand to his chest and made a fist over his heart. To anyone else this would just look like Eren was thumping his chest, but to someone from the past…

Isabel watched Eren, for a couple of seconds the table was completely silent.

"Eren…?" Isabel said slowly. Her eyes a little teary. She took a deep breath. "Ever seen a titan?"

Eren's breath left him in a huff as he lowered his hand. He put his face in his hands and started to laugh. He really didn't mean to. He shouldn't have started laughing but he just couldn't help himself. For years they had been living under the same roof. He thought he knew his sister but apparently they'd both been hiding something.

"Yeah. I suppose you could say that." Eren bit into one of his eggs. " I was part of the 104th training corps."

Isabel leaned forwards. " You were in the army!? Where did you live? How many titans did you kill? How did the die?"

"Calm down Isabel."

"I just, I can't believe it! I thought that maybe I was crazy and none of it had happened." She reached across the table and grabbed Erens hands. "I'm so happy in not alone."

Eren smiled. "we've got each other. You'll never be alone."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

Chapter 3:

Eren opened up the café as usual but this morning Isabel followed him down and sat in for a coffee. She only had twenty minutes before she needed to get the bus to uni and even then she would be cutting it short but she just had to know! She couldn't wait all day.

"where did you live?" She asked.

Eren stood behind the counter. They'd been open a couple of minutes and the usual customers had already picked up their coffees and ran to their jobs. He was currently making a latte for a dark haired teen wearing headphones.

"Shinganshina. Well…until it was destroyed."Eren said as he finished the latte off and passed it to the girl, who thanked him and walked off.

Isabel froze for a second. Had she heard that correctly? "How did it get destroyed? It was there….before I died."

Eren leaned on the counter, waiting for his next order. " Wow, you must have kicked it at least ten years before I did. Shinganshina was attacked by titans in 845."

"I died the year before. That's crazy. How did they get pass the wall?"

" A titan, he was even bigger than the wall. He kicked a hole through the gate. The another titan, completely covered in armour broke through the next gate and wall Maria was taken." Eren poured a black coffee and slid it todays the waiting customer. "How did you die?"

Isabel looked down at her watch. "I'd love to tell you, bro. But I gotta run." She grabbed her bag off the floor and ducked under the counter. "See you later!"

"Aww come on! I ask you one question and you've gotta run?"

She grinned and ran out the door.

Eren shook his head and continued with his shift.

Time went quickly. Just like any shift at the café. It was always busy so Eren never hand time to be bored. At 1pm he finished for the day. It was only a short shift and he had classes in the afternoon.

"See you later Stewart!" Eren called

The lanky dark skinned teen gave him a wave from behind the till. "Later's Eren."

Eren picked up his black coffee to go, backpack over his shoulder he made his way out the door.

The day was bright, the sun beating down on the black pavement. Eren dug into his pockets and pulled out his mirrored sunglasses. He smiled and walked towards the bus stop. He pulled out his phone, plugging in his earphones and opening his music files. He put on a random playlist and waited for his bus.

He looked up at the blue sky, inky shadows from the tall building providing blissful shade. The bus pulled up and Eren got on, paying the driver and picking a seat at the back. There were no walls anymore. Nothing to keep humanity boxed in.

Eren stared out the window, his expression dazed. He watched people as they passed, doing their thing, without a care in the world. They had no knowledge of titans, before this morning he thought that he was the only one. How many others were out there, thinking they were the only one?

Stuck in his daydream he hardly noticed a blonde man with a long face in the car next to him. He stared down for a second as the bus came to a standstill in traffic. The man looked to be in his late twenties. His hair was shorter at the sides and he could hear his obnoxious voice through his open window. Eren couldn't believe it. Was he seeing things?

He knocked on his window. Hard.

The man didn't pay any attention to it. The bus started to move. Eren didn't have a choice. He needed to get his attention. Just in the off chance.

"Oi, Horse face!" He shouted through the open bus window.

The man in the car turned so quickly Eren thought his neck might snap. The bus was slowly moving away but he saw Eren. "You little shit. What did you…." His eyes widened. "Jaeger!" He shouted as the bus started to move. Jean stalled his car. He stuck his head out the window. "Get off the bus! I'll follow behind!"

Eren's heart buzzed in his throat. This was crazy! He pressed the button for the bus to stop and stood. He could hardly believe this was happening. Yesterday he had been the only one with these memories, to his knowledge, but now they were all coming out the woodworks. It felt to him like he'd broken the seal on a magical lock that was keeping him away from all his friends.

He made his way down the bus, jostling from side to side with the bus. It made a slow stop and Eren all but jumped off the bus. Jean's red car pulled up behind the bus. His passenger door flew open and Eren hopped in the passenger's seat.

"Eren!" Jean exclaimed. Before Eren knew what was happening he was being pulled into an awkward side hug. "God, I can't believe it. You little shit! The first thing you say is 'Horse face'?"

Eren returned the hug. "I had to get your attention somehow. It killed two birds with one stone. You knew I remembered just from that."

Jean pulled back and looked him over. "You look exactly the same as I remember. How old are you?" Jean asked.

"I'm bound to look the same. I'm 18, same age as when I died."

Jean head hit the back of his chair. "Damn, I just assumed we'd all be the same age. Seeing as me and Marco went to school together and –"

"Marco's with you!" Eren shouted, he clapped his hand. "That's amazing! Do you know anyone else?"

Jean smiled and scratched the back of his head. "No, sorry. You're the first person I've found. What about you?"

Eren shook his head. "Nobody that you'd know. My sister, Isabel, has memories like our but she died before the fall of Maria." Eren laughed. "In fact, I only found out this morning. We both thought we were crazy."

Jean was silent as he looked over Eren, the boy had a backpack in hand and a sad smile on his face. Jean couldn't imagine how horrible it must have been to grow up without sharing the memories and nightmares with another. He'd had Marco since Nursery school. Always had someone he could confine in.

"I'm sorry. It must have been difficult."

Eren smiled. "I guess, but my parents were really good people and Isabel is great."

Jean didn't comment on the uses of past tense for his parents. Jean's phone started to ring. "It's Marco." He answered the phone "Hey, sorry, I might be a little late. I've ran into an old friend."

Eren wiggled in his seat, he wanted to shout down the phone to Marco. Surprise him a little.

"I do have friends! How rude"

Eren laughed. Seemed they had a good relationship in this life too.

"Tell you what, I'll bring him to lunch." Jean winked at Eren. "It's a surprise." Jean put the phone down and grinned. "You hungry? Marco's in a little Café not far from here. "

"Well, I'm supposed to be in class but nevermind." Eren shrugged.

Jean started his car and pulled off. Eren couldn't believe his luck. If Jean and Marco were alive and well, that meant that there was hope for the others. He may just get to see Mikasa and Armin again.

"How old are you?"

"32, me and Marco have just moved to town."

"You live together? That's cool." Eren smiled.

Jean laughed and tapped his hand on the steering while, the ring on his finger glinting. "Were Married."

Eren gasped. "That's amazing! Aww, I bet Marco is a great little wife."

Jean smiled fondly. "That, he is."

They pulled up not too far from Eren's café. Eren smiled and shook his head. Maybe it was fate, that Marco had decided to visit his café.

The fact that Eren had walked out at probably the same time that Marco had walked in was unreal. To think he could have missed this opportunity if he was sat on the other side of the bus, or if he had an earlier lecture.

They walked into the café, one of the baristas looked up with the chime and gave Eren a confused look. He smiled and nodded to them.

"There's Marco" Jean pointed him out.

A tall dark haired man had his back to the door. He sat in the middle of the café in one of Eren's favourite spots, from there you could see straight into the small woods across the street. The trees were huge and filled with wildlife. Almost tall enough to use 3DSM gear.

Jean nudged Eren in the arm and grinned.

Eren winked and walked up behind Marco, he put his hands over his eyes. "Guess who…" Eren felt Marco tense up under his hand.

"No way. No way…" Marco gasped. "E-eren…?"

Eren uncovered his arms and popped into view with a shit-eating grin on his face "Surprise!"

Marco threw himself at Eren and dragged the younger boy into a firm hug. Eren's arms were trapped next to his body as he was squeezed by the taller man. He pushed him back to arm's length, Eren could see the tears starting to form in his eyes.

"You look so young." Marco smiled "It's good to see you again."

"You look great too. Congrats on getting hitched to Horse-face" Eren shot a smiled over at Jean

"Can you believe this cocky little shit?" Jean put Eren in a loose choke hold. "Shouted it at me through the window of his bus."

Eren shrugged out of Jean's hold. He sat down next to Marco and smiled happily. "I guess we've got a lot to talk about."

 **Hope you liked this chapter, sorry it took me so long. Please review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin**

 **Chapter 4: Coffee and Revelations.**

The café was starting to get busy again with the last school and work rush. The baristas were handling it well but it didn't stop Eren from turning in his seat every once in a while, to check that everything was running smoothly.

Marco and Jean chatted happily about their life up to now. They'd met in Nursery school, where Jean had jumped on Marco the first day after finding the freckled boy playing with toy cars. Luckily the other boy had recognised Jean straight away and hugged him back.

They stayed best friends through school and when they hit their teens, they started dating. They'd been married for ten years now.

"You must really be a saint Marco, being able to put up with Jean for so long." Eren laughed as one of the baristas came and cleared their table.

"You want any more coffee? I'll bring it over." The tall girl said with a small smile on her face.

Eren had gone up to the counter the first time to order for all of them. "Sure, I'll have my usual. Guys?"

"Black coffee for me, please." Marco smiled.

"err, Vanilla Café Latte for me." Jean said as he started to get out his wallet, but the girl had already walked away. "Do I go up to the till to pay?" Jean asked Eren, who had obviously been here lots of time before as he knew all the staff.

"Nah, don't worry about it. There on me." Eren said.

"I can't let you pay for all of them. You're a poor student" Jean exclaimed.

At that moment there was a load shout from the counter. "I want to talk to the manager." The woman demanded. "This latte isn't up to my standard, I want a refund."

"I'm sorry but the manager is out at the moment, I can make you another coffee if you want." The tall girl said, her face was going slightly red as she hated when customers started fight with the staff.

"I don't want another of your shit coffee's, I want a refund."

"I'm sorry but I can't issue a refund without a manager present. He'll be back in ten minutes."

The barista was handling it well but Eren could see the moment where the woman turned from disgruntled customer to harassment of staff, as the woman lifted off her lid from her coffe.

Eren stood, ignoring Marco's hand as it reached for me. Eren's hand shot out and grabbed the woman's arm as she threw the coffee in the face of the barista, because if Eren intervention the coffee only went as far as the counter and missed the staff member as if pour down the side. Eren could see the steam rising from the counter.

"You okay, Amy?" Eren asked the clearly shaken girl.

"Yeah, not the first time that's happened."

The woman tried to get out of Eren's hold. Screaming that she'd get them all fired for harassment. Eren let go of the woman's wrist and put a hand on her shoulder firmly as he directed her to a table in the back of the café.

"Ma'am the actions that you just took are on camera, there, there and there." Eren pointed out the ccvt. " Your picture will be used in the back room as well as behind our counter. You are not to enter these premises again. If you do, I'll call the police imminently,"

"You can't ban me from here, who do you think you are. I want to speak to the manager."

"you can speak to the manager all you want. My word is final. You're banned."

The male barista that worked this morning came over. His manager tag shining, the woman rose out of her chair and turned. "Your staff are saying I'm banned, I only dropped my drink that was poorly made. I want a refund and I think you should pay for the dry cleaning to my handbag."

The manager took in Eren's annoyed appearance and sighed. "No. You're lucky the owner didn't call the police. If you'd like to grab your belongings and follow me out."

The woman gapped at Eren as she was taken out the door. The chatter of the café returned, Eren hadn't noticed that it had gone completely silent. He returned back to his table, the drinks had just been set down.

"You're the god damn owner, only crap Eren!" Jean exclaimed. "Wow, we lucked out here Marco. Free coffee, right Eren?" He winked.

Eren laughed. "You'll have to get that past my sister. I'll give you mate rates though."

Another coffee and a good chat later, Marco and Jean left. Marco gave him all the contact information for the pair as well as their home address and invited Eren to dinner when they had gotten sorted at home.

A true smile spread across his face, it had been really good catching up with them and it gave Eren hope that he'd find his other friends.

"Eren! I'm home!" came the happy shout at Isabel ran through the house like a heavy-footed maniac.

"I'm in here, sis" Eren grunted from the kitchen as he stirred the beef stew he'd made for the both of them.

"So, tell me about the titans" Isabel grinned as she threw her coat onto the kitchen table. Eren switched on the kettle and turned down the stove. Eren pulled out a chair and almost sat down. "Make me a cup of tea, bro, I've been at uni all day." Isabel complained.

She kicked off her shoes and Eren tutted. That was one of the things that he hadn't been able to shift in this life, he really hated messes. Levi had beaten it into him, literally. Eren went about the kitchen making his sister tea as he answered her questions.

"I mentioned where I grew up this morning. When the walls fell, I was evacuated to the inner wall. My mother was eaten by a titan right in front of me, in that moment I decided that I'd kill them all. Every last titan. That's why I became a soldier."

Isabel took the tea from Eren with a sad smile. "Titans suck, I was eaten alive. Not a pleasant experience." She shuddered. "Did we win? Well, obviously we did or we wouldn't be here today."

"Yeah. We won but there's something I need to tell you. About the titans." Eren bit his lip. Not knowing how Isabel would react to the news. "The titans were originally human. Some had the ability to control that power and turn into titans at will, others were trapped inside their bodies with no escape."

Isabel put a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. "Human? That's….that's crazy."

"There was a war that none of us were even aware of, trapped in the walls. A group of titan shifters wanted us dead, they hunted us and killed us for fun, sport…I don't know."

"What happened? Did you see the end?"

"Yeah, " He laughed "I made good on my promise. I killed every last titan." He took a deep breath. "Including myself."

Isabel didn't know if she'd heard that right. From how Eren had stated it, it implied that he was a titan too. She sipped her tea and frowned. "You killed yourself?"

"Yeah, it was the only way. I didn't want my friend to do it."

"You were a titan?" She asked. Eren nodded. "Dammmmnnnnn….that must have been weird."

Eren froze in shock. He could hardly believe it. Isabel had just accepted it, just like that. No shouting, no calling him a monster, no wishing that he had never been born.

Isabel reached across the table and took Eren's hand. "You're my little brother. Nothing could make me hate you, you know that right?"

Eren's eyes started to burn with unshed tears. "Thanks, Issy. So…tell me about you."

"Not much to say really. I died when I was about 16, I think. Eaten by a titan on my first mission outside the walls."

"You were in the survey corps? Me too." Eren grinned.

"Yeah, I joined the Corps on less than savoury intentions. I grew up in the underground city, it was always dark and damn. Food was scarce so you had to fight to survive. I joined a group on vagabonds, they looked after me." She smiled fondly. "They were my family."

"Anyone I'd know?"

"Well, Farlan deied. I know that much. Not sure about big bro, I'm pretty sure he'd survive though. Maybe." Isabel bit her lip. "One of the higher ups hired us to kill the Commander of the survey corps, Erwin Smith. If we did it, we'd be given permission to live above ground."

Eren shifted in his seat. "Erwin Smith was my commander. He…er…didn't die."

Isabel nodded her head. "I guess Big bro died too then, unless he joined Erwin or something."

"Your 'big bro', what was his name?" Eren asked, hoping that he could at least give his sister some closure.

"Levi, short…really bad attitude." Isabel said.

"Really likes his shit jokes?" Eren asked with a smile

Isabel grinned "That's him. You knew him? Was he okay? Did he survive?"

Eren blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I knew him pretty…well" Eren coughed. "He outlived me."

"Are you…omg…you're blushing!" Isabel exclaimed.

Eren's face went even redder if that was possible. His relationship hadn't really been a secret amongst his friends but he'd never talked about it with anyone else.

"You did 'it' with him didn't you?" Isabel asked as she jumped up from her chair. "Oh, wow, holy crapula….how was it?" Isabel asked with a laugh.

"I'm not going into details with you, Isabel." Eren wiggled in his seat. "It was good…like…really good."

Isabel hooted and hugged her brother. "Its gross to know you sex life but I'm so glad Levi had someone to love. You were in love, weren't you?"

"Yeah…we we're in love."

 **Really hope you liked this chapter. Please review. I'm mostly writing for myself but it's always nice to hear that others are enjoying my stories too.**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**_

Chapter 5

It had been a three month since Eren had met with Jean and Marco again. His excitement for meeting his old friends slowly ebbed away as the weeks went by. He had hoped that something had changed. That coming clean to Isabel has meant something and meeting Jean and Marco again meant that he was going to find the others.

Isabel had talked non-stop about the time of titans. She spoke about her life in the underground city before meeting Levi. How she'd been a gutter rat for as long as she had remembered, living on the streets, fighting for food and shelter. That was until Levi and Farlan had found her and kept her safe. Gave her a home.

Marco had invited them over for dinner a couple of weeks after re-meeting. Isabel had followed hesitantly. Not sure if she'd be welcomed and included into the small friendship group.

Marco had been delighted to see the shorter girl. He couldn't wait till she'd sat down before he started asking questions about her previous life. They bonded over the little things, their love of cooking, obsession with stuffed toys and (what freaked Eren out) their deaths.

Jean and Isabel got on like a house on fire. Eren had tripped over a chair and the pair had immediately laughed at him and started to make fun out of how clumsy Eren was. Calling him names and laughing at his distressed 'ow-ing'.

Eren loved Jean and Marco's house. It was warm and had so many pictures of the couple in it that Eren almost thought it was overkill but he couldn't blame then, after all, he'd want to take as many pictures with his friends from the past. They never knew when death would be knocking on their door in any world.

Eren sat on his bed. Looking down at the sketch book in his hand. His final project was due in a couple of days, he had so many drawing and painting dotted around his room that he had no idea which ones he's be picking to go into his showcase.

The theme that he'd been given was 'lost' and after some careful deliberation he'd decided to use some of the painting that he'd drawn from memory. His favourite among the lot had to be the water colour forest. The greens and blues merged that you could hardly tell that it was a forest unless you were standing about a meter from the painting. It was almost as if you were looking through bleary, tear filled eyes.

"knock, knock" Isabel said from outside his door.

He looked over and grinned. His sister was wearing the shop apron, holding a steaming coffee in her hand.

"Hey, Issy, how busy is it downstairs?" Eren asked.

"It's alright. Its time for swapsies though. So you better get your butt downstairs." Isabel grinned and sipped her coffee.

Eren sighed. "Got it." Eren held his hand out for the coffee and took it while Isabel took off her apron. He took a sip, the sugary sweetness of vanilla syrup hitting his tongue. "How many pumps have you put in this thing!?"

"Four." Isabel said as she handed over the apron and took her coffee back. "Ah, so sweet."

"Its gross"

"You're gross."

Eren flipped her off and made his way past her, tying on the apron as he went. He made his way out of the apartment and down the stairs to the café.

Eren waved to a couple of regulars as he took his position behind the counted. He grinned at the baristas on duty and started idle chat.

A couple of hours passed without Eren really noticing. He'd moved on to making the drink orders, getting lost in the repetitiveness.

Eren popped down two vanilla latte's down on the counted and called out the order.

" Two Vanilla latte's for…." He looked at the name on the cups. "Sandra and Donny"

"No way, hahah, he wrote you down as Donny, that's too funny." A lively girl laughed.

"shut up, Sandra" the man teased back.

Eren was frozen, he'd turned around to make the next order but the voices were so familiar that it made his heart thrump. He spun around, facing the café, as the couple picked up their drinks.

"Holy Crap!" Eren exclaimed.

The brown-haired woman was the first to make eye contact with Eren, he which she gave a little scream of happiness and clawed at the arm of the shaved headed man.

"Eren!" Sasha pointed at him.

"Oh my freaking god, Eren goddamn Yeager!" Connie grinned.

Eren called for someone else to take his position and ran around the counter. Sasha was the first to hug him. Pulling him forwards and jumping up and down.

Connie was fiddling in his pocket, getting his phone out and recording the scene.

"I can't believe this! We're only passing though and thought we'd stop for coffee and Connie said that this place looked good and that we should get coffee here and here you are in uniform and everything!" Sasha rushed without taking a breath.

Connie gave Eren a very manly hug and slapped him on the back. It was only then that Eren realised that Connie was a good head taller than him.

"When did you get so tall?" Eren laughed.

" That's what being older does for you. We're in our 30's. I'm assuming you're about 18, Eren. You still look the same." Connie grinned

"Yeah, good guess."

"I can't believe we found you." Sasha smiled, her eyes clouding over. "After what happened…"She sniffed.

Eren smiled softly and motioned for them to a table in the corner so they could have a little privacy. "When did you two meet?"

"When we were 13, I kicked a ball through Sasha's front window. My parents made me go round and apologise and there she saw. She freaking jumped me, Eren. All 'wahhhh'" He posed with one leg in the air like they used to. "Scared me half to death."

Sasha suddenly gasped and dug out her phone flicking through the apps till she got to face time. "I have a surprise for you!" Sasha smiled.

"Oh yeah! Do the thing." Connie grinned.

Eren smiled, they might be older but they haven't really changed at all.

Sasha gave Eren her phone. A picture of He-man was on the screen as the facetime app called out. "Who are you calling?" Eren asked confussed.

"Just wait. Just wait!" Sasha bounced in her seat.

The call went through but all Eren could see was darkness. "Hello, Sasha?"

"Ermm…It's ah, facetiming." Eren explained as he realised that he was only seeing the side of someone's cheek.

They cussed on the other end and held it up in front of their face, "You know I don't like…."There was a gasp as the person came into view. Blonde hair, held back in a stylish half up-do, blue eyes hidden behind large black rimmed glasses.

"Armin?" Eren asked quietly, his voice almost breaking.

"Eren, Eren….you're Eren!" Armin exclaimed, "You're okay" Armin wiped a tear that had started to leak out the corner of his eye.

"Armin, I can't believe it." Eren looked up at Sasha and Connie. "have you guys found anyone else?" He asked hopefully.

Sasha bit her nail. "We found Annie a couple of years ago…or should I say Armin found her." She waggled her eyebrows.

Armin laughed from the other end of the phone. "Yeah. We're….getting married in September."

Eren gasped. "That's…that's wow, that's great Armin. Congratulations."

"where are you guys?"

"We're Bramrom. A little café near the coast." Sasha piped up,

Armin stated bouncing up and down on the screen as the scenery changed from room to room in the background. "I can be there in three hours." Armin said.

"What!?" Eren exclaimed. "You're coming here?"

"Of course I am! I still need to scold you for what you did at the end." Armin warned him.

Eren sunk in his chair. "Sorry?" He offered.

"We'll see about that." The call disconnected.

Eren, gobsmacked, handed the phone back to Sasha. "Armin's coming here."

"We heard" Connie laughed.

"So, what food can you recommend?" Sasha asked. "I'm in the mood for cake."

"You're always in the mood for cake…or food of any find."


End file.
